NOVEMBER 22--Robotic Vision Systems (RVSI) has filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in the US Bankruptcy Court in Manchester, NH, USA. The company intends to continue operating its business as a "debtor in possession" under the Bankruptcy Code.
The company seeks to reorganize to raise sufficient cash to meet its operational needs while it attempts to divest the assets of its Semiconductor Equipment Group (SEG). By divesting those assets, which include end-of-line 3-D inspection systems (lead scanning) and 2-D and 3-D tools for bumped wafer inspection (wafer inspection), RVSI believes it will be able to satisfy or reinstate much of its debt and have the liquidity necessary to finance the growth of its Acuity CiMatrix business, which includes board-level machine-vision systems and 2-D barcode (Data Matrix) reading products.
"We are taking these steps to restructure our business for the purpose of returning to profitability," said Pat V. Costa, chief executive officer of the company. "We firmly believe that our business will better be served by selling the SEG business. By these efforts, we will better concentrate on the Data Matrix business and increase necessary cash flow. We intend to continue to ship product to customers, meet future vendor commitments, and carry on our sales and marketing programs." The company will continue to operate its business while in Chapter 11, and intends to propose a plan of reorganization to the Bankruptcy Court for approval.
William Blair & Company had previously been retained to advise the company on the sale of the SEG business. Marotta Gund Budd & Dzera LLC (MGBD) has also been retained to provide financial advice with respect to the company's restructuring. As part of the company's restructuring, Frederick H. Van Alstyne of MGBD has been named Chief Financial Officer and MGBD's J. Richard Budd has been named chief restructuring officer.
The company has retained Norman N. Kinel, the head of the Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization Group at Dreier LLP, a New York law firm, to represent it in its bankruptcy proceedings. The company has also retained Bruce A. Harwood of the New England law firm of Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green as its local New Hampshire counsel.
